On behalf of Beall and the Phillips shayneh kepelehs ^[i], as well as all the precious families who are part of the work of Vision Forum Ministries, I want to extend a hearty, happy praise to the Lord for you. I am praising the Lord for you because, for twelve months, so many of you have been sending us notes of encouragement, praying for us, and standing with us as we “remember the great Lord, and fearful, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives and your houses” (Nehemiah 4:14, Geneva, 1599 Edition).

Thanking the Lord for You Who Traveled with Us to the Ancient Ebenezers

Some of you have done even more. You have traveled with us to the Pilgrim shores of Plymouth, or to the ancient woods of the Jamestown colony, where we have rejoiced together on Faith and Freedom Tours as we told our sons and daughters the great stories of God’s providence in preserving his church and raising up a nation consecrated to the Lord. I think of these as Psalm 78 journeys of hope and vision-casting.

Especially precious is the steady flow of testimonies the Lord sends from the young men and women who join us on these adventures. These testimonies usually fall into one of two categories: Profound thanks to the Lord for their parents’ investment in their lives; or declarations of thanks that the Lord renewed their vision to make their lives count for Christ — a vision inspired by the great cloud of witnesses they study on these tours.

Thanking the Lord for Those Who Joined Us as We Sought a Fresh Vision of Victory for the Christian Family

Some of you joined us in Virginia for more than six thousand years of providential history at the History of the World Mega-Conference. This conference marked the fulfillment of a personal life goal — to bring many of the finest teachers of our day together to provide a panoramic, context-building perspective on Christian history and to honor great men used of the Lord in my own life, specifically, Dr. John Whitcomb and Dr. Henry Morris.

More than twelve hundred of you joined us in San Antonio for the groundbreaking Entrepreneurial Bootcamp for Christian Families. This was an event none of us will soon forget. Drawing from the collective wisdom of a remarkable group of Christian leaders, entrepreneurs, and home-school fathers, hundreds of families learned new ways to practically implement vision for the Christian household to become an economically-interdependent unit for growth, training, and generational blessing. Praise the Lord!

Thanking the Lord for Those Who Joined Us in Appealing to the Lord for the Heart of Our Sons and Daughters and for Christ-Exalting Churches that Purpose to Equip Parents to Raise Children of Honor

Always dear to my heart are the special times together that we spend at Father and Daughter retreats, and this year was no exception. I remember with special fondness the spiritual power of the Geoff Botkin father-and-daughters team. I venture to say that few of us have ever witnessed a more compelling and articulate example of daughters honoring their fathers and expanding the “borders” of their family through noble daughterhood.

Were time to permit, I could speak at length about the great Ebenezers to chivalric boyhood that were presented to our sons at this year’s Tenth Anniversary Celebration of the Christian Boys’ and Men’s Titanic Society, or the tremendous chorus of new speakers and great Christian leaders who joined us this year to call for the restoration of the biblical model of church and family life. Speaking of which, all of us at the National Center for Family-Integrated Churches praise the Lord for the finest, most foundational National Conference for Uniting Church and Family in our history. From the clarion call of Dr. Voddie Baucham concerning youth culture, to the vision of a compassionate church culture presented by Pastor Kevin Swanson, to the wisdom concerning church leadership presented by Alexander Strauch, we believe that an important investment of blessing for the local church was made, an investment which will yield dividends for years to come.

Thanking the Lord for New Opportunities to Proclaim Christ to the Culture and Equip the Next Wave of Home-School Heroes of the Twenty-First Century

Throughout the year, we have experienced a steady wave of meaningful responses to our Faith of Our Fathers Project and The League of Grateful Sons film. God used this to strike a note, both with our Word War II fathers, as well as their progeny. For many of our aged veterans, the project and the film were used of the Lord to allow them to open up for the first time in their lives about the events of sixty years prior. For the children and grandchildren, a new vision was planted to interview grandparents, to chronicle the deeds of God in the lives of their families, and to be thankful for the freedom purchased for them by a prior generation. The League of Grateful Sons, which broadcast numerous times on cable television in 2006, continues to be a powerful tool for teaching the Fifth Commandment and modeling honor. Thanks to every one of you who helped to make this project possible.

It is great to see a vision hard won begin to be realized. That is what happened in 2006 with our Christian Filmmakers Academy and San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival. The Lord blessed us with a tremendous crop of budding filmmakers, with nationally known sponsors, and with the best faculty in our history, including Stephen Kendrick, co-writer and producer of Facing the Giants. Watch carefully. I believe that great things will come from these unique, inspiring events.

Thanking the Lord for Times of Heartache and Pain

This glorious warfare has not been without its challenges. More than any prior year, 2006 was the year in which the blogosphere turned into a cesspool of unbiblical gossip. (Notably and tragically, the source of much Internet gossip is not the secular world, but those who profess faith in Christ.) It was also a year in which numerous godly churches and men of God were under the most intense attacks we have witnessed to date. Our own work has not been immune from detractors. Fiery darts of revilings were launched. Some detractors, notable for their dishonesty and unscrupulous behavior, even stooped to target and mass-disseminate cruelties concerning the noblest woman I know — my own bride and mother of eight children.

Here is our response: Thank you, Lord. Thank you for the challenges. Thank you for the sifting. Thank you for the revilers. Thank you for allowing the trying of our faith to work patience. Thank you for teaching us to fear you more, to examine ourselves for sin, and to be humble before our God. Thank you, Lord!

Thanking the Lord for New Life

More than any other year in my life, the Lord encouraged Beall and the children and me with a special, deeply personal blessing. This year, members of the Phillips family traveled together to dozens of locations to share the Gospel with the lost, to proclaim the whole counsel of God to the Church, and to bring a message of hope for the Christian family. We visited Colorado, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Virginia, Massachusetts, Washington State, Florida, Missouri, Washington, D.C., Arizona, Canada, Georgia, and, of course, Texas. Of all these precious ministry opportunities, I cannot recall a single location where I was not approached by a family — sometimes in tears, often with a picture in-hand of a little baby — coming to thank Vision Forum Ministries for sharing with them the message that God loves a fruitful womb and that children are a blessing from the Lord.

If Vision Forum Ministries were to end tomorrow, Beall and I would be satisfied knowing this one thing: There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of souls in the world today whose parents were persuaded to reverse a bad decision or to remain open to the Lord concerning the blessing of children. This victory will last forever and ever and ever. For this I am thankful and bless the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator of life.

On a deeply personal level, I thank the Lord for His kindness to Beall and me. This year, he renewed the womb of my own bride after the loss of a child last year. God answered our prayers by sending us our fourth daughter and eighth child — a precious bundle of love we named Virginia Hope Phillips.

A Personal Request

If you believe in the work of Vision Forum Ministries, or if you have ever been blessed by the messages and men and women of this work, then I have one very special request: Would you send Beall and me a letter telling us one way in which Vision Forum Ministries has been an encouragement to you? Would you let us know that you will commit to pray for our families and for the work of this ministry? Letters of encouragement are like the balm of Gilead to our family and staff. We read them, pray over them, and share them with each other. They allow us to experience the joy of being yoked in the battle with you. God bless you for considering this special request.

One last thing: Next year is special. It is the four hundredth birthday of the founding of America. There are important providential stories to be told in the context of this founding. Our children need to hear them. Understanding God’s providence gives context, hope, and courage. That is why ours is a mission of gratitude and honor. We hope to cultivate both within the hearts of our children. Toward this end, Vision Forum Ministries will be leading a national Christian celebration of this event. We want to invite you to be in Jamestown with us in June for an unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime celebration.

Thanking the Lord for His Mercies which Endure Forever

May the Lord bless your family out of His great abundance. May your home be filled with life and love. May you abound in all spiritual blessings. May your children be mighty in the land. May you live to see your children’s children walking in the faith of their fathers. “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever” (Psalm 136:1).

Persevero,

Doug Phillips

President, The Vision Forum, Inc.

[i] A Yiddish term passed down from my grandparents to my father to me which essentially means the “pretty heads” which the Lord has given to me.